22 Nov 2016

After 10 days shooting with the Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm I really enjoyed the flexibility it gave me, and also the fact that is the widest lens that I have, wich is very helpful in close spaces such as this market, so I decided to keep on shooting with this same lens for another ten days.

Day 31, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 31b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 31c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 31d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

As a novelty from previous weeks, I started developing the habiot of looking up to the ceiling and crouching down to shoot at floor level to change perspectives, though these new approaches didn't necessarily work out well and many times I didn't get any sucessful images with them, yet I still think it's important to be as wide-eyed as possible, never discounting any options, and this proved to be a good exercise to train the eyes to be alert to all surroundings.

Day 32, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 32b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 32c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 32d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

As days passed, I became very familiar with the light and shadow patterns of the market at different times of the day, and rather than wander around the market to find unexpected scenes as I had mostly been doing so far, I started chasing these "hot spots", staying at them until the scenes unfolded naturally in pleasant ways.

Day 33, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 33b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 33c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 33d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 33e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

The promise I made to myself not to use burst anymore has been mostly fulfilled, and I only resorted to it once in 10 days, in a very tricky shot where I had to be very precise with the timing due to the shallow of the light area. I consider, therefore, this mission accomplished, since I'm much more precise now with my shutter timing due to avoiding burst, yet I use it when I consider it's absolutely helpful or necessary. Despite this, the number of shots that I took surprisingly increased, and ranged between 62 and 181.

Day 34, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 34b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 34c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 34d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Despite the apparent contradiction, the more I go to the market, the more invisible I become, because I'm more and more familiar to them and they stop noticing me walking around their stands and just keep on doing their own business without minding me at all, which is a blessing, for I can continue with my daily stroll without disturbing them or bringing too much attention, which would detract from the spontaneity of the images.

Day 35, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 35b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 35c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Related to my previous paragraph, the people who only work at certain hours and don't know me as much as others do are more reluctant, suspicious and rough to me when I'm in the vicinity of their stalls. In those cases, I just smile and keep on walking. I always follow this simple rule that has proven very helpftul time and time again: never take a picture than is not welcomed by their participants, there are plenty of opportunities around so just move on and find something else to capture. No picture should come before basic courtesy and manners (we are not talking photojournalism here, where the line could be blurry, but street photography).

Day 36, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 36b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 36c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 36d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Since I know the market so well by now, I can focus more on "working the scenes" than on looking for them, so my routine has slowly shifted and, rather than walking so much, I concentrate in less scenes every day and stay at each one of them longer to try and catch the right moment.

Day 37, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 37b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

When I started this project, the main objective I had in mind was simply to bring back the motivation and enjoyment of photography through self-discipline and commitment; becoming more proficient with the technicalities was always a distant second, but I never had any idea whatsoever about what I would like to do at the end of the 100 days, for that was not one of my main concerns when I started. However, and in a very organic way, some small ideas have started developing as the project advances, but I won't comment on them yet, since they are only "ideas in progress", so to speak, and might change or never happen at all, but it's interesting to see how once yo start the engines, things get a life of their own and start taking shapes you hadn't anticipated. Let's see where all this goes!

Day 38, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38f, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38g, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 38h, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Another first since I started this project: I used the off-camera flash at last! The results were mediocre at best, but again, I don't really care, I'm not looking for immediate results, I'm just practicing and trying new things to see how and if they work along the way. The more techniques one knows, the more possibilities open and the creative output can only grow as a consequence, so one humble advice: always welcome failed attempts!

Day 39, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 39b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 39c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 39d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 39e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Another 10 days came and went in the blink of an eye, and in this new section I only skipped one day. There are no signs of slowing down or any drop in my motivation to continue ahead with the project so far, and that makes me very happy, for that was, probably, one of my biggest concerns when I started, not to be commited enough to carry it through and bring it to an end. That is not happening at all, at least for now, and that alone is a reason to celebrate. Almost half way through!

20 Nov 2016

Oh, my! Time flies! It seems like yesterday when I started this photography blog to keep track of my life and experiences through the perspective of a camera, and it's been almost 4 years now. Last week I just uploaded my 100th post and today, to commemorate that milestone, I'm going to do something a bit different from the rest of the posts I have published so far. I don't want to do a greatest-hits kind of article for that is a very subjective matter and it's always dependant on momentary mood and preferences, so I will rather present a recollection of all the pictures that, throughout these 4 years, have become my own wallpapers, the images that I have used personally to illustrate the background of all my devices (desktop computers, laptops, tablets and phones), and that's why they have different aspect ratios, depending on the proportions of the screen I used them for. Let's start with the images adapted for 4:3 screens, such as all iPads (the caption of every image will bring you directly to the post where the image appeared originally).

It may seem as a small thing, but being able to see my own images in all my devices has been a rewarding little touch that I have enjoyed. Definitely it doesn't bring the satisfaction that printing does, but when you have no room (or permision) to hang a single picture in the walls of your room, it serves as a small consolation. Let's continue with the images formatted for horizontal 16:9 screens, wich are commonly found in many desktop and laptop computers. Macbooks have a slightly different 16:10 aspect ratio, so there is a very small cropping necessary to fit these in them.

As I said at the beginning of this post, this is not a list of my personal favourites, but of those images which, for different reasons, worked well as wallpapers (many other images, specially the ones with people in them, don't tend to work well as unobturusive backgrounds since they require too much attention and therefore they make the screens too cluttered, while wallpapers are supposed to be subtle and almost invisible). The last batch comprises the images formatted to a vertical 16:9 aspect ratio, the one found in many smartphones, including all iPhones since iPhone 5. Finally, and as a token of appreciation for all the support received during these years, I offer for free and for a limited time any of these wallpapers in any aspect ratio that you need, just send me a message. Thanks everyone for these fantastic 100 posts and hopefully there will be many more in the future!